The present application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-19394 filed on Jan. 29, 2002, which is incorporated here
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an iron golf club head which has a face plate made of lightweight metal such as a titanium alloy attached on a front face of a head body.
2. Related Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. Hei 9-192273, a conventional iron club head has achieved an improved resilience by making a central portion of the face plate thick, and making a perimeter thereof thin.
However, since this conventional iron club head has a thickened center portion of the face plate, the center of gravity of the entire head is situated at a relatively high position. Thus, the moment of inertia of the club head is reduced by this high position, which therefore impairs ease of swing for players.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its object is to provide a golf club head which, while maintaining high resilience, also provides a low center of gravity through lowering the weight distribution of the entire head. Thus, the golf club provides a large moment of inertia of the club head for a high trajectory and ease of hit.
In order to achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides an iron golf club head comprising a head body and a face plate made of a highly resilient metal attached to a front face of the head body. The face plate comprises a thick-walled portion formed in a lower central part thereof, a plurality of narrow ribs formed to radially extend from the thick-walled portion toward an upper and lateral peripheral parts of the face plate, with each rib having a thickness not substantially exceeding a thickness of the thick-walled portion. A plurality of broad thin-walled portions is also formed between the ribs arranged adjacent to each other.
The thick-walled portion in the lower central part of the face plate may have a substantially semi-circular shape with a linear section of the semi-circle located on the side of a sole section. The plurality of ribs are formed to radially extend from an arc section of the semi-circle.
The thin-walled portions disposed between the plurality of ribs may be formed by pressing each thin-walled portion so that each thin-walled portion has an inner end shaped as an arc having a smaller radius and an outer end shaped as an arc having a larger radius, respectively. For example, the thin-walled portions may be formed by pressing so that each thin-walled portion is shaped in an eggplant-like profile. In other words, each thin-walled portion has an oval shape in which each arc-shaped end is connected by straight, non-parallel edges, and the straight non-parallel edges of each thin-walled portion define the ribs.
The thick-walled portion and the narrow ribs may be formed with a thickness in a range of 2.7 mm to 3.5 mm, and the thin-walled portions are formed with a thickness in a range of 2.0 mm to 2.6 mm.
A back side of the head body may be enclosed by a rear face plate to form a hollow body structure.
Weight members may be disposed in toe and heel sides in a lower back side of the head body.
The face plate may be formed of a titanium alloy.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an iron golf club has a golf club head comprising a head body and a face plate made of a highly resilient metal attached to a front face of the head body. The face plate comprises a thick-walled portion formed in a lower central part thereof, a plurality of narrow ribs formed to radially extend from the thick-walled portion toward upper and lateral peripheral parts of the face plate, with each rib having a thickness not substantially exceeding a thickness of the thick-walled portion. A plurality of broad thin-walled portions is also formed between the ribs arranged adjacent to each other.